A discourse analysis of figurative language used in English

storytelling on BBC Learning English

Dhila Nurul Azmi1, *Didin Nuruddin Hidayat2, Nida Husna3, Alek4, Sri Lestari5
1,2,3,4Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 5Universitas Islam Syekh Yusuf Tangerang

ABSTRACT

This study aims to discover the kinds of figurative languages and to describe their meaning in English
Storytelling on BBC learning English. This study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive analysis
approach. For the data, the primary source of this study is Storytelling from BBC Learning English.
Secondary sources include books, publications, journal articles, English encyclopedias, observations,
and documentation relevant to the research. Based on the analysis, the study found 15 sentences that
involve figurative language in the English storytelling. There are four kinds of figurative language:
personification, metaphor, hyperbole, and simile. The most frequently used figurative language is
personification, found in 5 sentences. Others are lesser: metaphor (4), hyperbole (4), and simile (2). The
personification is used frequently, because it is easier to describe the behavior of objects that resemble
human activities. Further researchers should consider the differences between each type of figurative
language used as a context for evaluating the topic, find figurative language on other English education
websites such as VOA (Voice of America), and have background knowledge of literature, such as songs
and their features.
Keywords: figurative, language, meaning, storytelling
Article History: Received , Final revision , Published

Introduction
Figurative words are commonly used comparisons so that the meaning or description
in literary works to emphasize and beautify an of something can be adequately conveyed.
expression. According to Loveana et al. (2021),
Based on the research of Perrine (1969),
figurative language is also important to learn so
the several types of figurative language are
that students are expected to use the right
metaphor, simile, metonymy, irony,
choice of figurative language in expressing their
personification, paradox, hyperbole, and
meaning in English. Concerning learning
synedoche. Metaphor is a figure of speech that
English, one of the literary works taught in
uses analogies or parables on two different
junior high schools is storytelling. According to
things (Glucksberg, 2001). For example, if
Nee and Santana (2022), the figure of speech, an
people say a person has a “heart of gold.” Simile
element used in storytelling, is one of the
is used to make comparisons between two
materials in learning English. Figurative
things. For instance, “She is as kind as an
learning is among the essential lessons to be
angel”. Metonymy is a figurative language in
mastered by students.
which an object is represented with another
According to Rahim (2019), figurative thing generally considered with the concept to
language has words often presented to be be stated. For example, “The pen is mightier
equated, compared, or connected with than the sword.” Next, irony illustrates the
unrelated meanings. It can be concluded that difference or inappropriateness between how
figurative words are the use of words in a way things appear and how they are in truth. It is a
that deviates from meaning to explain or word to convey a contradiction to what is
convey complex meanings so that they are easy genuinely supposed (Ampa & Quraisy, 2018).
to imagine. Often, this figure of speech uses For example, a driver whose license was
*Corresponding author: Didin Nuruddin Hidayat, Gedung FITK Lt. 4., Jl. Ir. H. Juanda No. 95, Cemp. Putih,
Ciputat Timur, Kota Tangerang Selatan, Banten, 15412. Email address: didin.nuruddin@uinjkt.ac.id Doi
https://dx.doi.org/ 10.30595/lks.v17i1.16249, ©2023 Leksika. All rights reserved.
 Azmi, Hidayat, Husna, Alek, & Lestari/ Leksika Vol.17, No.1 (2023) 32-38
confiscated by a traffic officer may say, “Thank
you, Officer, now that you have my license, I
can’t drive”. Personification, According to Fitria
(2018), gives social features to inanimate
objects, animals, or thoughts. It can affect the
way the reader envisions things. For example,
Betts (2019) says, “The sun smiled at her this
morning”. Paradox is a figurative language
states something opposite or contradictory. For
example, “Even though Grandmother is old,
her spirit is burning like she is still young”.
Hyperbole is an exaggeration to highlight a
point. It tends to be silly or hilarious. For
example. One day, I spent a couple of weeks
there.” “I had to walk 20 miles to school, uphill,
in bare feet, in the snow.” Last, synecdoche is
when a part of something is used to mean the
whole thing. According to the designated
characteristics, synecdoche is divided into two:
Pars Pro Toto and Totem to Partee.
Storytelling is one of the learning
methods, especially in English lessons. A
teacher can instruct students to do storytelling
activities in front of the class, and their friends
will listen to the story being told. It is also a
means that can raise the ability to speak and
listen in English (Tabieh et al., 2020). Not a few
also teach students to do storytelling through
dialogue that has been made. According to
Suzuki et al. (2019), storytelling is a mutually
beneficial and fascinating topic from a
gathering of perspectives to experts. It is helpful
in learning methods and promoting a product.
It has several other benefits, namely a growing
interest in reading, increasing intelligence,
increasing creativity, improving language
skills, and making it easier for someone to make
presentations. Besides, according to Davis et al.
(2021), storytelling has several functions, such
as increasing student pleasure, increasing
vocabulary and phrases, composing pleasant
sentences to hear and read, and increasing
concentration. The readers or listeners will
focus on the story being conveyed orally or in
writing and acquire moral values that can be
applied in everyday life.
Storytelling is also progressing; it does
not only use speech but already uses tools or
media so that someone can find out a story by
reading. Several language programs can
support it entirely to help provider features
users better understand the material in English.
One of these programs is BBC Learning English.
33
According to Luu et al. (2021), through excellent
programs provided in the application and
learning materials supported by exciting
videos, the BBC Learning English application is
beneficial for anyone who wants to develop
English language skills (grammar,
pronunciation, vocabulary, and all four
language comprehensions). With this
application introduction video, it is hoped that
all target communities will fully understand the
benefits of the BBC Learning English
application and download it on their respective
smartphones to be a reference source for
learning English. The best features of BBC
Learning English are new daily lessons and a
choice of study programs that students can
take. As well as being the most popular
provider of free English teaching materials in
the world, with its teaching materials, BBC
Learning English helps millions of people from
various countries master English. The BBC
Learning English application is designed to
improve the English language skills of its users
by providing learning topics, transcripts, and
quizzes that are up-to-date and fun. With
reasonable consideration by using the BBC, it is
interesting to do research.
A research on figurative language in
songs done by Aziza (2022) exploring the
figurative language used in a song album. She
found 23 figurative language, based on Gorys
Keraf theory. Similarly, Mandarani and
Ardiansyah (2020), there are some figurative
languages in American short story, such as
symbolism, hyperbole, personification, and
metaphor. There are also unexpected word
constructions, such as idiom, imagery, and
onomatopoeia. Besides, Maulana and
Mubasyira (2021) focused on comedy-central
stand-up figurative languages such as
antiphrasis (20%), eponym (20%), allusion
(20%), personification (20%), and metonymy
(20%). Moreover, the last from Nainggolan et al.
(2021) showed hyperbole (5 sentences),
personification (34 sentences), similes (2
sentences), metaphor (44 sentences), and litotes
(1 sentence). The difference between this study
and previous studies is the implementation of
figurative language in literature works, namely
BBC learning English, while previous studies
applied figurative language to American short
stories and comedy-central stand-up. The
research questions related to the purpose of this
 Azmi, Hidayat, Husna, Alek, & Lestari/ Leksika Vol.17, No.1 (2023) 32-38

study are 1) What kinds of figurative language is necessary to determine significant and correct
in English Story Telling on BBC Learning data from qualified sources. According to Leo
English? And 2) How is the meaning of (2013), There are primarily two types of sources:
figurative language found in English Story primary and secondary. The primary source for
Telling on BBC Learning English? this study is Storytelling from BBC Learning
English. Secondary sources include books,
publications, journal articles, English
Research Method encyclopedias, observations, and
documentation relevant to the research. In this
In this study, the researchers employed
research, the data will be collected, namely
qualitative approach. According to Creswell
observation. The researchers directly observed
(2014), qualitative research is a method of
English storytelling. Then, a procedure for data
discovering and contemplating the significance
analysis can be created as follows
of individuals or groups to a community or
implementing theories related to problems and
human problem. It is intended to identify
anything else required for the study’s purpose,
approximately figurative language in English
providing the data following how figurative
storytelling by considering the general
language is delivered in English storytelling,
meaning. This study’s procedures are as
interpreting data based on figurative language
follows: listening to the storytelling to analyze
types, and concluding.
the data, recognizing the figurative language
used in English storytelling, classifying the data
according to the type of figurative language,
Results & Discussion
and concluding the meaning of figurative
language in the context. The focus of this research is to classify the
figurative language in the Video of BBC
The instrument of this research is
Learning English “Milly and the Rainbow “.
English Storytelling from BBC Learning
The analysis will rely on Perrine (1969)
English. At the same time, the object is the
perception. Metaphor, Simile, metonymy,
figurative language used in English Storytelling
irony, Personification, hyperbole, and
from BBC Learning English “Milly and the
synecdoche. The researchers defines a
Rainbow”. The URL was
percentage of each kind, and represented the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtg7jD8
figurative language in Figure 1 below:
dA04&t=302s published on April 25th, 2020. The
video duration was 00:06:11. Gathering the data

Table 1. Number of Figurative Languages used in English Storytelling

Figurative Language
6
4
2
0

Figurative Language

Based on the figure, there are 15 data of
figurative language found on BBC Learning
English storytelling “Milly and The Rainbows”.
The figure showed four kinds of figurative
language on BBC Learning English storytelling
from 8 kinds of figurative language. The four
kinds of figurative language used in the
Storytelling of “Milly and The Rainbows” are
personification, hyperbole, metaphor, and
simile. This study uses metaphor 4 data

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 Azmi, Hidayat, Husna, Alek, & Lestari / Leksika Vol.17, No.1 (2023) 32-38
(26.67%), simile 2 data (13.33%), personification
5 data (33.33%), and hyperbole 4 data (26.67%).
Metaphors and hyperbole have the same
quantity of data in figurative language.
Personification is one of the figurative
languages used on BBC Learning English in the
Storytelling of Milly and The Rainbows. On the
other hand, the simile is a minor figurative
language because it is one type of figure rarely
used in this storytelling. The other figurative
language, metonymy, irony, and synecdoche,
does not apply to this study.
Based on the findings by researchers in
this study, it can be seen that personification is
the most used in English storytelling videos,
particularly on BBC Learning English. This
personification is more commonly found in this
study because the it is easier to use as a
description of the behavior of objects that
resemble human activities. According to
Perrine (1969), personification is figures of
speech in which human attributes are given to
an animal, an object, or a concept (Sopiansyah
& Inayah, 2021). This point is also represented
by Meyer (2018), arguing that personification
displays human characteristics in inanimate
objects so that the object seems to have a life like
a human. It is often used in literary work due to
the existence of a partition or boundary
between humans and inanimate objects, so
personification works by removing these
restrictions so that humans can live or
appreciate them better. As found in the study
results, rain clouds sweep over the hills. From this
sentence, the sweep gives “typically human”
characteristics to an inanimate object or
creature other than humans (Siburian, 2020).
Personification is a figurative language that
creates a sense of belonging and connection
between inanimate objects and their
surroundings (Davis et al., 2021). Many use
figurative language because there is a basis that
humans are copycat creatures. Therefore, the
first thing that humans will do is appreciating
the things around them. It is much easier to live
the beauty of nature for people who are less
sensitive to its beauty if one can liken nature to
that of a human being.
The one that is least used is a simile.
Based on the theory of Perrine, a figure of
speech describes a condition by comparing one
thing with another. Comparison in simile is the
nature or character. The characteristics of a
35
sentence can be analyzed using a simile with
word choices such as “like” (Erdita, 2021). That
statement is supported by Fitriani (2021),
stating a simile is a parable and uses the word
“as or like”. For example, as a result, is, she
whizzed along like a button-up vacuum cleaner.
And the other one was like a tiny white box with a
rainbow in the garden. It is suitable if dramatic
reinforcement is needed but does not have to be
as powerful as a metaphor. In addition, it is
more suitable for use in non-literary works such
as speech and lecture texts because it will be
easier to understand in one word or once read
by the reader or listener (Siburian, 2020).
In addition, figurative languages such
as hyperbole and metaphor are located in a
position of not too much and not too little, being
in an average position. Based on the theory of
Perrine, hyperbole is one type of figurative
language of contradiction with a figurative
language style of satire. Hyperbole is a
figurative expression in which the writing or
pronunciation seems exaggerated from the facts
or data as stated by Werdiningsih (2021) and
Chakrabarty et al. (2022). As a result, these
figurative languages can give a witty or
dramatic impression depending on how it is
used. The listener has to understand what it
means. From the result of analysis, an example
of this figurative is: Suddenly, she was shooting
back through the rainbow faster than a firework. In
the example of the word type of hyperbole,
“The Milly,” the main character conveys when
he sees the rainbow. The main character uses
the hyperbolic expression “faster than a
firework.” It is an exaggerated phrase. The
narrator uses hyperbole to emphasize the
ongoing situation to describe to the listeners
(Fitriono et al., 2022) so that they understand
and get the intent and purpose, followed by an
understanding of the impression of the
storytelling. The use of this hyperbolic
figurative language in the implementation of
language and literature learning is also
emphasized by Maulana and Mubasyira (2021),
who states that teachers utilize the Hyperbole
language style to evaluate student appearance,
criticize, and direct them. Not only that,
teachers use it as a way to convey excessive
evaluation or criticism to put students in a
dominant position.
The next is a figure of speech used to
describe an object or action using a comparison,
 Azmi, Hidayat, Husna, Alek, & Lestari/ Leksika Vol.17, No.1 (2023) 32-38
metaphor. According to Purwati, Rosdiani et al.
(2018), it is a figurative language used to
express an equation that compares two things
indirectly in a short form. The metaphor does
not necessarily compare something with
something else but explains an intention or idea
(Kosimov, 2022). Often metaphors and similes
are considered the same, but the difference
between metaphor and simile lies in using the
word pointer. The simile will use the word
pointer: like, look, etc., while the metaphor does
not use it. For example, the sky was peacock blue.
The sentence is a metaphor because it compares
the state of the sky at that time with the colour
of peacock blue. The example contains an
illustrative language style because it does not
have the word comparison but explains its
other meanings.
How beautiful and beautiful the state
of the sky at that time is like the beauty of the
peacock’s charm. Both, then, are compared
instantly. From a psychological point of view,
the effect of this blue color can make a person
feel calmer and more relaxed (Yu & Egger,
2021). It is a metaphor because it describes the
sky with another specific word for comparison
(Kövecses, 2006). Metaphor can add a dramatic
effect to a sentence so that a work will be felt
more potent with its meaning. The power or
dramatic effect produced by the metaphor lies
in the contrast of the comparisons made.
Therefore, of the four figures of speech in this
study is used to compare or explain something
so that the sentences become livelier and more
convincing.
The implication is that the storytelling
offered by BBC Learning English is suitable for
use as teaching material for junior and senior
high schools, even for the higher ones, because
it still falls within their range, compatible with
their learning growth. Furthermore, this
storytelling makes use of suitable linguistic
elements, such as the use of appropriate diction
and idioms. Additionally, teachers and
students can employ figurative language
analysis to expand their vocabulary in English.
36
Conclusion
This research used figurative language
for data metaphor, data personification, data
hyperbole, and data simile. The sum of the
numbers is 15 sentences that use figurative
language. The dominant appearance of
figurative language in Storytelling on BBC
Learning English’s “The Milly and the
rainbow” is on personification. It is due to its
easy use to describe the behavior of objects that
resemble human activities. Hyperbole and
metaphor are located in an average position,
and the least used one is simile. For further
research, there is better information about the
type of figurative language, especially
storytelling as a learning strategy; complete
information will be used. The current research
found difficulties separating the various
figurative language forms and evaluating
storytelling as literary works. Collections of
Storytelling provided at BBC Learning English,
such as The Milly and The Rainbow, can be
used as teaching materials in learning English
to increase students’ sensitivity in analyzing
and appreciating works in English.
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